Machine for stacking and packaging bakery products.



W. E.LOWELL.

MACHINE FOR STACKING AND PACKING-BAKERYV PRODUCTS.

APPLICATIONl FILED JUNE 2l. l9l.

Patented Sept. 24, 1918.

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W. E. LOWELL. MACHINE FOR STACKING AND PACKING BAKERY IRODUCTS.

APPLICATION FILED .IUNE2I| 19H5.

Patented Sept. 24,` 1918.,

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

W. E. LOWELL. MACHINE FOR STACKING AND PACK|NG BAKERY PRODUCTS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNEZL. |916.

Patented Sept. .24, 1918.

4 SHEETS--SHEETA 3.

L n0 :Cm IIIIIIIIIIIIIII II l w. LOWELL MACHINE FOR STACKING AND PACKING B AKERY PRODUCTS.

YAPPLICATION FILED JUNE 21,1916.

1,279,562. Patented Sept. 24, 1918 'Hens-SHEET 4.

WALTER E.y LOWELL, or NEW YORK,

EFD Smear-ATENT- N. Y., AssIGNoRTo NATIONAL BIsonI'r COMPANY,

0F NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF'NEW JERSEY.

MACHINE Eon sI'ACKING AND :PACKAGING VBAKERY: ritonuc'rs.L A

To all whom t may concern.' f

Be it known that I, VALTER E. LOWELL, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented fcer tain new and useful-Improvements in Machines for Stacking and Packaging Bakery Products, of which the following is a specification. y

My invention relates to a machine for.

stacking and packaging bakery products such as biscuits, cakes, cookies, or the like.

Theobject of the invention is ltoproduce a machine in which theproducts are received at one end and delivered at the otherv end More roperly arranged in cartons.

speci cally the invent-ion contemplates a ma-V lmechanism for removing the products from the pans and mechanism for stacking the products on edge in continuous rows; and

which has carton filling mechanism for filling the stacked products into cartons. Properly timed driving mechanisms are provided for the conveying, stacking Aand packaging mechanisms. v

A machine embodying. the various features of my invention is shown on the'accompanying drawings in Which- Figure 1 is a plan view,

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on plane 2-2,

plane 6 6, Fig. 2,

Fig. 7is an enlarged sectional view on plane 7 7, Fig. 1, and Fig. 8 is an enlarged perspective view of one of the releasing slides for controllingthe charging of biscuits into the cartons. A

T he supporting structure for the machine is in the form of a long table 10. At one end ofthe table is a vertical framework 11 for1ning 'a conveyerV passageway for pans'p containing products to be packaged. Conveyer belts 12 and 13 extend through tlie"bottom of the conveyer .passageway for receiving the pans, these belts being provided with pan abutment fin'ei's 12 and bein driven b f e g l pans.

l speeifi'c'aiion'of Letters Patent. Patented Sept. 24', 1918. Appiication nieuwe 21, 191e. seriai No. 104,855.v I' l' sprocket wheels on shafts 14 and 15, one' of the shafts being driven by a chain belt 16 from a main shaft` 17 which carries the belt 1 pulley 18. The pans p are shifted'from the` conveyer belts 12 and 13 to the belts 19 and 20 which engage sprocket wheels 4on the shafts 15 and 21, rthe belts 19 and 20 extending diagonally.v fBefore thepans reach' the lower ends ofV the inclined belts vthe biscuits, cakes or other products are removed therefrom to. a con-` veyer .belt 22` which passes around the pulleys 23 and 24 on. shafts 23 and 24', the belt 22 extending almost full widthof the machine between side plates 25 and 26 supported on the table. 1 f The mechanism yfor'scra'ping and removing the biscuits or other products4 from tlie pans is clearly shown in Figs. 1, 2, 6 and 7. A plurality of scraper blades 27 .are arranged in a transverse row and are pivoted at their inner'ends on the rod 28 extending between the front ends of the side plates 25 and 26 between which the belt 22 travels. Normally the blades rest near tlieirfront ends on a rod l29 whichextends between the ends of levers 30 and 31 pivoted at an intermediate point wat the upper ends of brackets 32 and 33- which rise from the table top', as clearly indicated in Figs. 6 and 7. The inner ends of the levers are connected by links 3(1 and 35 with the inner-ends of weight levers 36 and Y 37, these levers being pivoted at an intermediate point to the'brackets A32 and 33and1at their outer ends carrying the rollers 38 and 39. vProvision is made, as Aby means of weights 40, for normallyover-balancing the lever mechanism in order to cause the rod 2.() to be normally raised suiiiciently. to hold theA outer ends of the Scrapers 27 above the path of an approaching pan 'p and 4to hold the rollers 38 and 39in the path of the oncoming Vith this arrangement, as a pan p approaches its advance edge will lirst encounter the rollers 38 and 39 to eiect swing' of the levers 36 and thereby raising the links 31 and 35 and causing swing of the levers 30 and 31 to lower the rod 29 away from the Scrapers to permit-.the sera-pers to drop int-oY the pan immediately inside.V the front edge of the pan. The biscuits, cakes, or other products c are then scraped from "the pan and travel' downA the Scrapers onto the belt 22. The outsidescra'pers preferably have the vertical guide flanges 41 for preventingescape of biscuit-s as they travel over thescrapers. The conveyer belt 22- maybe driven in any suitable manner. As shown,` a chain 42 engages sprocket wheels on shaft 21 and the pulley shaft 24.

' The biscuits orother products rest flat on l the conveyer belt 22, and before they are x ported at its ends by the side walls 25 and 26. Guide ridges 44 extend parallel with the sides 25 and 26 and are spaced between them to form passageways 45 for the biscuits, the

ends 46 overhanging the inner endof the belt 22 and being. pointed in order to better guide the biscuits into. the passageways. Behind the plate45 the table top 47 has the-slots 48 therethrough between the guides 44, and through these slots proj ect the upper runs of belts 49, these belts having each blocks 50 secured' thereto with inclined upper faces, as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The passageways 45 are of slightly greater width than the diameter of the biscuits, and as the biscuits travel along with the belt 22 they are guided into thev passageways by the points 46 andv the rows of biscuits traveldown thev plate 43 between the guides and onto the blocks 50 of the respective belts, the blocks being each of a length to accon'nnodate one biscuit. Each of the belts is mounted on sprocket wheels 51 and 52 on transverse shafts 53 and 54, the shaft 53 being connected by drive belt 55 with the shaft 21, the belts 49 traveling at the same rate as the belt 22. 4

At the right of the belt slots 48 the table top 47 has the troughs 56 and 57 cut therein, these troughs forming continuations of the channels between the guides 44. The width of the passageways 45 between the guides 44 is only slightly larger than the diameter of the cakes in order to allow the cakes to travel freely. The slots 48 through which the beltsproject are just wide enough to allow passage of the blocks 50 therethrough and the cakes are therefore of greater dialneter than these slots. The troughs 456 and 57 are no wider than the slots and therefore when the belt blocks pass downwardly through the inner ends of the slots 48 the cakes thereon will be caught by the edges 58 adjacent the slots and will be shifted by the descending blocks along these edges until they engage with the floors 59 of the troughs. Centrifugal force will also aid in shifting th'e cakes from the blocks to the troughs and during shift of the cakes from the belt blocks to the troughs they -will be tilted from flat position to position on edge and each cake will be brought up against the back of the preceding cake so that the stacks are shifted to the outer ends of the troughs.

j The troughs 57 alternate with the' troughs 56 andare longer than the troughs 56. At

the end of each trough 56 there is a discharge slot 60 through the table top and at the end of each trough 57 there a similar discharge slot 6l, the slot 60 being in one transverse row and the slot 61 in an adjacent trans verse row. In accordance with my inven end tongues 65 and 66 of the platesfor the slots 60. Likewise, slide-ways 67 and 68y are provided for the tongues of the plates for the slots61. The plates for the slots 60 are secured together by side bars 69 and 70 which are connected at one end to a cam arm 71 which extends into the cam groove 72 of a ca1n'73 mounted on shaft 74 which is journaled in the bearing brackets 75 and 76. Likewise, the slider plates for slots 61 are connected by side bars 77 and 78 which are connected to a cam arm 79 which extends into cam slot 80 of the cam 81 also mounted on shaft 74. The cams are so adjusted that when the slider plates under slots 60 are moved in one direction those under slot 61 will be moved in the opposite direction. The shaft 74 may be driven. in any suitable manner. As shown, the bevel gear 82 thereon meshes with a gear 83 on the shaft 54. vThe tops of the slider plates are level with the floors 0f the troughs, the cross-section of which at the slots is preferably rectangular. To hold the cakes onI edge yieldable abutment disks 84 and 85 are rovided in the troughsv 56 and 57 respectrvely, the disks being held yieldingly against the advance ends of the cake rows by springs 86. As the cake rows are being added to and travel along the troughs toward the discharge slots, the disks exert sufficient pressure to prevent toppling over of the cakes, and they are finally shifted onto the slide plates over the discharge slots. Below each slot a frame 87 is supported from which extend downwardly the side plates 88 and 89 and the end plates 90 and 91, the plates detlecting inwardly a distance and the side plates being somewhat longer than the end plates. As will be presently shown, these plates enter` into cartons to hold the cartons open Afor the reception of cakes which are discharged through the discharge slots when the slide plates are shifted from underneath the slots. Each slide plate has at its vends the blades 92 and 93 respectively which are in `front of the front edge of the plate and extend up wardly. lhen one row of plates is in position to close the respective discharge slot-s the blades will be out of the slots to permit passageway for cakes onto the plates. However, when the plates are slid to expose the discharge slots, these blades are shifted onto the slots at the ends thereof, one set of blades coming into position in front of the respective abutment disks 84 and 85 and the other set coming into position in front of the cake -rows remaining after the ends of the rowsV have been discharged through the slots. This is clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the dotted lines in Fig. 3 showing the normal positions of the blades, and the full lines showing the bladesin the slots with the blades 92 in position in front of the disks 85 to preventl pressure of the disks against the cakes during discharge and with the blades 93 in front of the cake row sections in advance of the sections which are beingdischarged. After discharge the slide plates will be shifted back to slot-closing position and the abutmentdisks will be vshifted by their springs into engagement with the ends ofthe rows which are released from the blades 93Vand return to normal position.

In Figs. 3, 4 and 5, the mechanism is shown for'bringing cartons into position to receive the discharged cakes. Supported on the table structure lin vertical registration below each slot are fourv guides 94, 95, 96 and 97, these guides being-shown secured to the cross beams 98 on the table structure and strengthened by braces 99. A carton elevator frame 10Q is provided iii-connection-with each set of guides and is rectangu .-lar and has the vertical sides 101 and 102 'connected below by a yoke 103. At the cor- -ners of the sides are secured vertical guide tongues 104, 105, 106 and 107 respectivelyv having sliding engagement in the guides 94, 95, 96 and 97 respectively. At their inner ends the sides 101 and 102 are bent inwardly at right angles to form abutment flanges 108 and 109, and below 4the to-ps of these flanges horizontal shelves 110 and 111 eX- tend inwardly from the elevator. sides and form seats for cartons. Extending through .y the elevator frames between the sides thereof are the conveyer belts 112, each belt servingfto convey cartons to and away from each of the frames. pulleys 113 and 114 on shafts l1-15 and 116 respectively, the shaftv 115 being driven by belt 117 which engages with a sprocket on the shaft and with a sprocket on the shaft 53 (Fig. 2). Y

Below the elevator frames for the discharge slots is the cam shaft 118, and below the elevator frames for the discharge slots61 is the. parallel shaft 119. De-pendingfrom the yoke. of each elevator 'fra-nie is a bearing bracket 120 journaling a. cam roller 121. Each cam roller ofthe elevator frames below discharge slots 60 coopera-tes with a cam disk 122 on yshaft 118, and each of the cam rollers of the elevator frames below discharge slots 61 coperates with a cam disk 123, the cams being shaped to effect ver- Vare being low-ered, Vand vice versa.

The belts travel with tical reciprocation of the elevator frames. However, .the relative arrangement of the cams 122 and 123= is such that the elevator frames under discharge slots 60 will be raised while those under discharge slotsr' 161 e shafts are connected by a drive chain 124 and one of the shafts is connected by a drive chain 125 with the shaft 115. The cams are all alike and their cam contour is such that ywhen an elevator frame is down and the cam 4' starts to rotate it will first raise the frame ashort distance, will then hold the frame in this shifted position for a period, will then quickly raise the frame tothe top of its guides, willl then hold itat the top for a period, and will then restore it to its lower position; In Figs. 3 and 4, the'elevator frames under discharge 'slots 60 areIA shown in their lower positions and the frames under discharge slots 61 are in their upper 'posi-- tions. Whenthe frames are in their lower positions the shelves 110 and 111 therein will bebelow the top runs of the belts 112. By the time the cartons reach the end lianges 108 and-'109 of the frames, theframes will have been raised by their cams to bring thel shelves into engagement with the cartons to release them from the belts and then the frames are rapidly raised to their upper positions, the guide plates 88, 89, and 91 engaging at theinner-sides-of the unfolded side and end y, cover sections of thev carton to hold them spread apart while the cakes are being discharged into thev cartons, the timing of the various drive mechanisms being suchv that. the discharge plates over the raised cartons will be shifted to open lthe discharge slots to permit the released cakes to' drop into the cartons. After filling of the carton the elevator frames are lowered and just before they reach their lowermost positions the filled cartons will reach the belts from which they are taken vas soon as the frames reach their lowermost positions to bring the tops of the abutment flanges 108 charged therefrom.V The feeding of cartons to the` belts is so timed thateach elevator frame will raise a carton from the belt to be filled and will then carry it back to the belt before the next carton enters the frame.

After the filled cartons are carried out 'of the elevator frames by the belts their cover sections are folded to closed position and the .package is sealed. t

I do not. of course, desire to be limited to the exact construction, arrangement and `operation 'shown as changes and modifications are no doubt possible which would still come within the scope of the invention.

I Vclaim as follows: v

1. In a machine of the class described, the

'and 109 below the upper runs ofthe belts combination of a supporting table having a trough in its upper surface, means for delivering biscuits or similarI bakery products edgewise to said trough and for shifting the delivered biscuits alon'gthe trough in a row, a movable bottom forthe end section of said trough normally closed to receive a predetermined number of biscuits, means for periodically moving said bottom to release the collected biscuits, and conveyer mechanism below the table top controlled to carry containers into position below the trough end to receive discharged biscuits and to then .carry away the filled containers.

2.. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a supporting table having a trough in its upper surface, means for delivering biscuits or similar bakery products edgewise to said trough and for shifting the delivered biscuits along the trough in a row, a movable bottom for the end section of said trough normally closed to receive a predetermined number of biscuits, means for periodically moving said bottom to release the collected biscuits, an elevator below the trough end, conveyer mechanism for conveying containers to saidelevator, and means for periodically raising said elevator to bring the container therein into position below the trough end to receive discharged biscuits and for then lowering said elevator to bring the filled containers back to the conveyer mechanism.

3. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a supporting table having a trough in its upper surface, means for delivering biscuits or similar bakery products edgewise to. said trough and for shifting the delivered biscuits along the trough' in a row, a movable bottom for the end section of. said trough normally closed to receive a predetermined number of biscuits, means for periodically moving said bottom to release the collected biscuits, an elevator be low the trough end, a. conveyer belt. for

conveying containers toA said elevator, means for raising said elevator to bring the container therein into position below the trough end to receive discharged biscuits, and means for lowering said elevator to bring the filled containers back to the conveyer belt whereby thecontainercan be carried away from said elevator.

a. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a supporting table having a trough in its upper surface, means for delivering biscuits or similar bakery products edgevvise to said trough and for shifting the delivered biscuits along the trough in a row, a movable bottom for the end section of said trough normally closed to receive a predetermined number of biscuits, means for periodically moving said bottom to release the collected biscuits, an elevator below the trough end, a conveyer traveling continu'- ously below said elevatorfor conveying containers to bewfilled, means for periodically raising said lelevator to receive'a container from the conveyer and to bring it into osition below the trough end to receive ischarged biscuits, and for lowering the elevator t0 return the filled containers to the conveyer to be carried away from the elevator.

5.V In a. machine of the class described, the combination of a supporting table having a trough in its upper surface, means for delivering biscuits or similar bakery products edgewise to said trough and lfor shifting the delivered biscuits along the trough in a row, a movable bottom for the end section of said trough normally closed to receive a predetermined number of biscuits, means for periodically moving said bottom to release the collected biscuits, a continuously traveling con- 4 veyer below the table top for conveying containers to be filled, and means for periodically removing a container from said conveyer and bringing it into position below the trough end to receive discharged biscuits and to then restore the filled container lto the conveyer.

G. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a supporting table having aV plurality of troughs in its upper face, means for delivering biscuits or similar bakery products edgewise to said troughs and for shifting them in rows along said troughs, one of saiditroughs being longer than the other, a discharge slot at the end of each trough, a bottom closure Jfor each slot normally closed to receive a predetermined number of biscuits, means for effecting alternate operation of said closures to open said discharge slot-s alternately, and means associated with each discharge slot for bringing a container thereunder to receive discharged biscuitswhen the slot is opened.

7. In a machine of the character described, the combination ot a supporting table having one set of parallel troughs of one length and a second set of troughs of a greater length and alternating with the troughs of the first set, means for -delivering biscuits or similar bakery products edgewise te said troughs 'an'dlfor shifting them along said troughs in rows, the troughs of one set having bottom outlet openings at their ends and the troughsof the other set having similar bottom outlet openings at their ends, closure means for the first set outlets and-closure means for the second set outlets, said'fclosure means normally closing the outlets to receive predetermined numbers of biscuits, means for alternately movingsaid closure mechanisms to openthe outlets, and means below said outlets for supporting the containers to receive the biscuits as they are discharged through said outlets.

8. In a machine of the character described, the combination of a trough, means for delivering biscuits or similar bakery products edgewise to said troughs and for shift-ing them along the trough in a roW, a yieldable abutment engaging the advancing end of said row to keep the biscuits edgewise and together, a false bottom for the end section of said trough normally predetermined number of biscuits at the advancing end of said roW, means for periodically shifting said false bottom to release the biscuits thereon, and means for supporting a container to receive the discharged biscuits.

9'. In a machine of the `character described, the combination of a trough, means for delivering biscuits or similar bakery products edgewise to said troughs and for shifting them along the trough in a roW, a yielclable abutment engaging the advancing end of said row to keep the biscuits edgewise and together, a false bottom for the end section of said trough normally closed to receive a predetermined number of biscuits at the ad` vancing end of said row, means for periodically shifting said false bottom to release the biscuits thereon, means for supporting a container to receive the discharged biscuits,

closed to receive a and a stop blade on said false bottom moved thereby into the biscuit row to check the advance of said roW during discharge of b1scuits.

10. In a machine of the character described, lthe combination of a trough, means for delivering biscuits or similar bakery product-s edgewise to said troughs and for shifting them along the trough in a row, a yieldable abutment engaging the advancing end of said row to keep the biscuits edgewise and together, a. false bottom for the endk section of said trough normally closed toreceive a predeterminednumber of biscuits at the advancing end of said row, means for periodically shifting said false bottom to release the biscuits thereon, means for supporting a container to receive the discharged biscuits, and stop blades at the sides of said bottom moved into the trough When the bot- 'tom is shifted to release biscuits, one of said blades being then in position to check the iioW of biscuits and the other being in front of said abutment to prevent return thereof While the biscuits are being discharged.

In Witness whereof I hereunto subscribe my name this 16th day of June, A. D. 1916.

WALTER LOWELL. 

